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Statistical Final 1

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8 views

Statistical Final 1

Uploaded by

Abu Zar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Partition Function

Name: Malik Abuzar


Registration Number: 2022-ag-5480
Course: Statistical Mechanics (PY-511)
Instructor: Dr Bilal Ramzan
Submission Date: December 23, 2024

Department of Physics
University of Agriculture Faisalabad

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Introduction: Deriving the Partition Function for a System
of Independent Particles
In statistical mechanics, the partition function plays a central role in describing the
thermodynamic properties of a system. It encapsulates all the possible states of the
system and provides a pathway to calculate macroscopic quantities such as energy,
entropy, and pressure.

The Concept of Partition Function

The partition function ZiZ _i for a single particle describes the sum over all possible
states of that particle, weighted by their respective Boltzmann factors, which are
functions of the energy levels of those states. For a system of N independent
particles, the key assumption is that each particle behaves independently of the
others. This assumption allows us to treat the partition function of the system as a
product of the partition functions of the individual particles, since each particle’s
behavior does not influence the others.

Partition Function Diagrammatically


System of Independent Particles

For a system of N independent particles, each particle can be described by its own
set of possible states, each with a corresponding energy. Since the particles are
independent, the probability distribution of the system can be factorized into a
product of the probabilities for each individual particle. Consequently, the total
partition function Z of the system is simply the product of the partition functions
ZiZ _i for each individual particle.

This result highlights the simplicity and power of treating particles as independent
entities in statistical mechanics, making it possible to describe complex systems by
considering the properties of their constituent particles.

Symbolic Representation

System of Independent Particles


Exercise
Show that the partition function Z of a system of N independent particles is equal to
the product of the partition functions Zi of individual particles. That is
N
Z=∏ ❑ Z i or Z 1N when all particles are identical
i=1

Solution:
Let the space and momentum coordinates, and energy of N particles are,
respectively, denoted by q i , pi and Ei , i=1 ,2 , … , N . The partition function of
the system in three-dimensional space having energy E=E1 + E2 +…+ E N is

1
3N ∫
Z= exp ⁡(−E /kT ) d q1 d q 2 … d q N d p 1 d p2 … d pN
h

The partition function of first particle in three-dimensional space is

1
3∫
−E /kT
Z1 = e d q1 d p1
1

The partition function of second particle in three-dimensional space is

1
3∫
−E /kT
Z 2= e d q 2 d p2
2

Similarly, we can calculate for all particles. The partition function of N th


particle in three-dimensional space is

1
3∫
−E /kT
ZN = e N
d qN d pN
h

Thus, we have

1
3N∫
e ( ) /kT
− E +E +…+ E
Z1 Z 2 … Z N = 1 2 N
d q1 d q 2 … d q N d p 1 d p2 … d p N
h

and therefore,
N
Z=Z 1 Z 2 … Z N =∏ ❑ Z i When all the particles are identical, we have
i=1
Z1 =Z 2=…=Z N and therefore, we have
N
Z=Z 1

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